The American Journal of Comparative Law is not operating exclusively, and even not primarily, within the United States but rather on a truly global scale. This is true both regarding our authors and our readers. We receive submissions from all continents, regions, and legal cultures of the world. We have subscribers in over 80 countries around the globe. We are quite confident that few, if any, other law reviews published in the United States can match this. Thus, the context, in which our journal should be ranked (if at all), is the global environment of comparative law publications. In that environment, we are generally recognized as one of the top three (and perhaps the premier) journals of its kind. Our two main competitors are published in England and Germany, respectively.

In contrast to the vast majority of law reviews published in the United States, we are peer-reviewed, i.e., the selection of the articles we publish is made by generally respected academics who are specialists in their field, not by second- or third-year law students (as is the case with all student-run journals which comprise over 90 percent of the American law review scene). In particular, every article we publish has been recommended by at least one outside reviewer and then accepted by the editor-in-chief, Professor Mathias Reimann, Hessel E. Yntema Professor of Law.

We are highly discriminating in our selection. We publish fewer than 10 percent of the articles submitted to us. Note that we already receive by and large only articles specializing in comparative and foreign law. Of those, we have to reject over 90 percent, simply because competition is so stiff.

For better or worse, there is no reliable way to quantify citations to journals like ours on a global scale. If there were, anecdotal evidence suggests that The American Journal of Comparative Law would do very well. Our editors publish, teach, attend conferences, and have other academic contacts around the world, and we find consistently that our journal is known, read, and respected in the community of comparative law scholars wherever we go.